Blog Archives

A white Christmas might be a slim possibility for much of the country this year, but at least one other ho-ho-holiday tradition is sure to be widespread.

Christmas trees are everywhere during the holiday season, as the nordic tradition has taken root and spread across all parts of the globe. But Canada‘s winter makes the country a natural home for the seasonal favourite, whether it’s real or artificial.

The number crunchers at Statistics Canada have come up with some fun facts about one of Canada’s favourite holiday traditions.

$51.3 million — The total value of all fresh-cut Christmas trees sold in Canada last year. Sales were down in every province except British Columbia. Sales were down nine per cent last year and have declined by 22 per cent since 2006.

$47 million — Value of artificial Christmas trees imported into Canada. More than $46 million of that came from China, with the rest coming from Thailand, the United States, Mexico or Vietnam.

Hemp is fast becoming a staple of daytime TV as Oprah, Dr. Oz and others extol the health virtues of hemp oil, protein powders and pasta. At the same time, industrial interests tout it as a potential base for products ranging from textiles to car parts. As a result, demand is surging in the United States, Germany and Japan. But American farmers are prohibited from growing hemp. That leaves farmers in Canada – where it’s been a legal crop since 1998 – free to tap the growing U.S. interest in hemp-based products. First, though, they must navigate the shifting sands of public opinion – or, as one Alberta report called it, “the snicker factor.” According to an Alberta Agriculture Department report on industrial hemp production in Canada, the plant’s cultivation evokes chuckles “largely because of its hippy-dippy image and close association with marijuana, its consciousness-altering cousin.” Nevertheless, this is serious stuff. The North American market for industrial hemp – which has only a minuscule amount of the chemical that gives marijuana its punch – is booming.

“Why use up the forests which were centuries in the making and the mines which required ages to lay down, if we can get the equivalent of forest and mineral products in the annual growth of the hemp fields?” – Henry Ford